A role for sleep in optimising attention

所有动物的大脑都是预测机器，即使是微小的苍蝇也能有效地在复杂的环境中导航。预测接下来会发生什么对于引导注意力很重要，但对于发现任何令人惊讶的事情也很重要。该项目旨在了解果蝇睡眠如何优化预测。我们的目标是使用电生理学和钙成像来映射苍蝇大脑中的视觉预测误差信号，然后确定遗传控制的睡眠如何调节这些信号的质量和分布。通过研究进化如何在最小的大脑中解决这个难题，这一知识将有助于我们理解大脑如何平衡预测能力和惊喜能力。

All animal brains are prediction machines, which allows even tiny flies to effectively navigate complex environments. To predict what will happen next is important for guiding attention, but also for detecting anything surprising. This project aims to understand how prediction is optimized by sleep in Drosophila flies. We aim to use electrophysiology and calcium imaging to map visual prediction error signals across the fly brain, and then determine how genetically controlled delivery of sleep regulates the quality and distribution of these signals. This knowledge will benefit our understanding of how brains balance a capacity for prediction versus surprise, by examining how evolution has solved this difficult problem in the smallest brains.